Will Nokia Ever Get N-Gage Right?

Last month saw Nokia making a second bid at releasing the N-Gage platform. The first attempt was a resounding failure, with the Nokia N-Gage handheld gaming device proving to be a failure. In a bid to make amends, Nokia’s latest attempt has seen them restructure N-Gage as a mobile service that can be used by any compatible device.

It has emerged, though, that the games can only be downloaded once and to one device. This may be a move to prevent pirating of software but it means that when gamers upgrade their mobile device they would need to purchase the game again for that new device. Understandably, gamers are disappointed.

Further disappointment has arisen because information regarding this is sandwiched among pages of terms and conditions. Gamers feel that something this important should in fact be published more prominently. It looks as though the second coming may be doomed to the same failure as Nokia’s first attempt in 2003.

We upgrade mobile phones much more regularly than we do games consoles and handheld devices. Primarily, this is because manufacturers release new phones much more regularly. By limiting gamers in this way, the N-Gage service looks a much less appealing prospect and is far less likely to drag mobile gamers away from dedicated devices like the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP.